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The high-stakes battle between the world's largest smartphone makers is scheduled to wrap up this week after a monthlong trial that has pulled the curtain back on just how very cutthroat the competition is between Apple and Samsung. Closing arguments in the patent-infringement case are scheduled to begin Monday...

SquareTrade evaluated the phones based on such criteria as size, weight, grip and the quality of the front and back panels. The company measured how far the phones slide when pushed across a table on their backs and how well they withstand drops from 4 feet and being dunked in water for 10 seconds.

Terms of the settlement aren't being revealed yet. Those details will be provided in documents that will be filed in court by May 27, according to Kelly Dermody, an attorney representing the workers who contended they were cheated out of bigger paychecks.

With a relatively quiet news week having passed, this week's SmartWatch, sponsored by SanDisk, takes a look at what might be on the horizon. From a Softbank bid for T-Mobile to a new iPhone, we'll offer up the probability of the next big story in the wireless.

Apple shares halted briefly Wednesday as the company announced a 7:1 stock split and raised its buyback authorization from $30 billion to $90 billion. Apple declared a dividend of $3.29 per common share, which it will pay out May 15 to shareholders of record as of May 12.

As the Apple-Samsung patent trial surges on, Apple took the time to politely troll Samsung in a full-page newspaper ad running Tuesday. On Earth Day, Apple’s ad focuses on the company’s greenest efforts while the headline, “There are some ideas we want every company to copy,” gets in a subtle jab at Samsung and the OEM’s alleged infringement on Apple patents.

Apple is offering free recycling of all its used products and vowing to power all of its stores, offices and data centers with renewable energy to reduce the pollution caused by its devices and online services. The iPhone and iPad maker is detailing its efforts to cultivate a greener Apple Inc. in an environmental section on the company's website that debuted Monday.

In this edition of SmartWatch, sponsored by SanDisk, we contemplate whether a lack of headline-grabbing smartphones in 2014 will allow Apple to jack up the price of its next iPhone (iPhones?) as much as $100. And before the show is over, Ben will address his pessimism regarding Amazon’s rumored 3D smartphone before coming face to face with his more optimistic self, who thinks the feature sounds kind of neat.

Apple might be able to leverage a $50 to $100 price hike for its upcoming “iPhone 6” given the lack of headline-grabbing smartphones hitting the market in 2015. Jeffries analyst Peter Misek said that the current state of smartphone saturation and low differentiation could mean the next iPhone, rumored to be significantly bigger, could be a big enough blockbuster that Apple can force carriers to bow to raised prices.

Cowen & Co analyst Timothy Arcuri predicts the company’s smartwatch could have enough built-in fitness tracking features that health insurance companies might be willing to absorb some of the cost similar to how wireless providers subsidize devices for customers.

Greg Christie, a veteran software designer for Apple, is leaving the company and Apple Senior Vice President Jony Ive will assume his duties as a vice president in Apple’s design department. The team that was working under Christie and reporting directly to Senior Vice President Craig Federighi will now report to Ive.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — So far one of the biggest problems for a federal judge overseeing a patent battle between the world's largest smartphone makers isn't about stolen ideas. It's getting the roomful of smartphone devotees to turn off their devices.

"Not one of the accused features on this phone was designed, much less copied, by anyone at Samsung," Samsung attorney Peter Quinn said. "The accused features on this phone were developed independently by some of the software engineers at Google, up the road in Mountain View."

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Jury selection promised to be a challenge for the world's leading smartphone makers as they continued their patent fight in federal court on Tuesday. The trial in Silicon Valley marks the latest round in a long-running series of lawsuits between Apple Inc. and Samsung, with the companies accusing each other of stealing ideas and features.

Microsoft Office fans who've spent the last nine months using the software's suite of apps on their tiny smartphone screens are probably thrilled that they can finally create and update documents on the iPad's significantly bigger display surface.

The fiercest rivalry in the world of smartphones is heading back to court this week in the heart of the Silicon Valley, with Apple and Samsung accusing each other, once again, of ripping off designs and features. The trial will mark the latest round in a long-running series of lawsuits...

Microsoft on Thursday unveiled Office for the iPad, a software suite that includes programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and works on rival Apple Inc.'s hugely popular tablet computer. The app was to be made available for download on Thursday in the App Store at 11 a.m. Pacific time.

Even as Android pulls away with the majority of global smarpthone market share, Apple's iOS continues to drive more Web traffic in some countries around the globe. The findings revealed in dotMobi’s Global Device Traffic Index, show that Apple’s iOS-based devices...

Apple isn't letting up on its push into the lower end of the market. The company Tuesday launched an 8GB version of its colorful iPhone 5C for European markets. According to 9to5 Mac, the new phone sells in the United Kingdom for $712 unsubsidized...

Apple Tuesday announced that it will do away with the iPad 2, while reducing the the fourth-generation to iPad 2 price points. The fourth-generation 9.7-inch iPad will now sell for $399 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and $529 for the Wi-Fi + cellular model.

Apple's brand preference rating fell by 5.1 points between the second and fourth quarter 2013, which the research firm said was "one of the weakest performances of 21 major technology brands" in its latest survey. The survey also suggests Apple may be failing to impress its demographic sweet spot.

Green America and China Labor Watch launched their campaign Wednesday to protect the health of factory workers assembling the devices in China. The groups unveiled an online petition protesting the use of benzene and n-hexane in the production of iPhones. Benzene is a carcinogen that can cause leukemia if not handled properly and n-hexane has been linked to nerve damage.

Apple has lost its grip on tablet dominance, as Gartner today released numbers that show Android was the top tablet operating system in 2014. While sales of iOS tablets grew in the fourth quarter of 2013, iOS's share declined to 36 percent last year, while Android captured 62 percent of the market.

CarPlay leverage's Apple's virtual assistant Siri to give iPhone users a hands-free way to make calls, view maps, listen to music and access message. Users can control CarPlay from the car’s native interface or just push-and-hold the voice control button on the steering wheel to activate Siri.

CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple stockholders will get a chance to grill CEO Tim Cook about the company's product strategy, acquisition plans and money management at the iPhone maker's annual meeting. Friday's gathering, scheduled to start at 9 a.m. PST, isn't expected to be as dramatic as it was shaping up to be until recently.